As per India Skills Report 2019, only 47.38% of graduates in India are employable. This means that every second graduate in India is unemployable. A critical analysis of the situation brings to the scanner the quality of education imparted and received by the students in the country. As per Pearson Voice of Teachers Survey (2015), the teaching community (44%) expressed their need for industry training of teachers in addition to merit-based industry internships (48%) for students. This links the entire cycle of teaching and teachers that are at loggerheads in the country culminating into un-employability of fresh graduates. Science education in India faces various practical challenges today. Our inability to make science and math education easy to learn and understand has led to generations of students and parents living with the fear of being unable to understand the basic concepts.
Coupled with it the burden of less teaching staff in schools has aggravated the entire issue for underprivileged children. Science education is imperative for the growth of every child and more so when we talk about the child's scientific temper, hence the Mini Science Centre – (MSC) that supports and encourages the students to develop aptitude & skills. With the funding provided by Honda, STEM Learning Private Limited planned to install Mini Science Centre (MSC) and undertake refresher training for science teachers in 5 government schools around the Honda plant in Vithalapur, Gujarat. This shall serve the dual purpose of understanding the concepts of science with ease as well as impart practical training which is easy to grasp. This shall further help in transforming these schools as “Model schools” portraying the best teaching practices to schools in and around Vithalapur area.
The project has been running in five different primary schools in Vithalapur, Gujarat (i.e. Karshanpura Primary School, Manipura Primary School, Sitapur Primary School, Ugharoj Primary School, and Vithalapur Primary School). In the month of November 2018 twelve teachers across government schools of Vithalapur have been trained by STEM Educators. The main aim of the training was to improve the pedagogical skills of the teachers, improve their understanding of science concepts and enable them to use the science models in classes. These shall help make teaching and learning fun exercise. The Honda 2Wheelers initiative of providing better “Education” to children in Vithalapur area of “Gujarat” aligns with larger UNDP goal of reducing vulnerability to poverty, building better and sustainable communities as well as making the world a better place to live in. The CSR effort especially converges with UNDP Goal 4 representing “Quality of Education” which would ultimately lead to employable graduates and improved GDP growth of the country.
